Popular Teaware from Libre

Recent Tasting Notes

In grand ‘me’ tradition, I was super derp on allergy meds last night, so I spent the entire night playing Terraria. Yes, good old Terraria, haven’t heard me talk about that game in forever, because I have not played it in forever! I lost my info when my previous computer died and gave up in frustration, but decided to give it a go again after seeing good things about the recent updates. I have a love hate relationship with that game, there are just so many things going on that I feel overwhelmed, but at the same time, I do love all those options. It is a fun distraction, even if I do die more than I would like to admit.

So, it has been a while since a tea gear review, and it is practically criminal that I am just now getting around to reviewing my travel steeper that goes pretty much everywhere with me. The Libre Black Brush Tea Glass, to sum it up, is a thing of beauty! It is so pretty with its black lid and base and matching black tree branches reminiscent of trees in winter. You are probably saying ‘but Amanda, wouldn’t you prefer the teal one since you are obsessed with teal?’ surprisingly no, I prefer the black because it goes with everything.

Now, on to the pros and cons! The pros (other than it is pretty!) I love that the outer wall is plastic while the inner is glass, meaning yours truly is less likely to break the blasted thing when I inevitably drop it, also it seems to insulate better than the double glass one, meaning less burning of the hands, so yay! The size is great, it allows for the expansion of the inevitable oolongs that I like to drink. Also I am a big fan of the way the lid is set up, being made of two parts, a lid and a filter, and rather than it being a basket it screws on, meaning if I don’t want the leaves in there or something I don’t have to fiddle with a basket.

Not everything is perfect though, I think my biggest complaint is it doesn’t go in the dishwasher! I really like being able to run things in the dishwasher, especially when I have a cold or something for that extra step of disinfecting. I had to buy a special sponge thingy on a stick to clean it, and taking all the washers and such off to make sure I do not get any weird mold growths anywhere is a bit of a pain, especially when I use this thing a lot. Also sometimes the lid does not screw on right and my purse, pocket, or self gets utterly soaked with tea, though I am pretty sure that is user error because I have weak little wrists.

That little flaw us pretty much the only thing that is a problem with this steeper, I love this thing, I get lots of compliments when I take it out and about. I use it for cold steeping as well as just regular ol’ steeping while out and about. I will say it is a bit expensive, but even though I am a total tightwad, I think it is worth it. If I was very wealthy I would buy one of these for all my tea drinking people as gifts.

Preparation

As I usually do, when Abbi told me that she had an awesome green tea for me to try, I stuck my nose in the air and said, “yeah, not for me”. I was quickly proven wrong. This green tea has such a light and delicate taste. I was bracing myself for a thick, earthy taste and that just wasn’t the case. The initial taste is a very clean, subtle flavor which is then followed up by a smooth, sweet aftertaste.

Preparation

The flavor is vegetative with a hay-like backnote. Sweet and smooth. Delicious. The vegetative tone is somewhere between grassy and steamed spinach. Not bitter, even when left to infuse in the main chamber of the libre mug.

I am enjoying a mug of this, brewed in my new Libre Mug! The flavor of the tea is sweet and delicious. Light-bodied, with a clean finish. It has a fresh, vegetative taste – a little grassy but not overwhelming… and reminds me more of vegetables than it does of grass, but there is a little bit of the grass taste in there too. As it cools a little, I am noticing a little bit of hay-like flavor to it too.

It’s Green Tea but smaller! And finer! It appears to be cut or shredded or or crushed different than most green tea leaves I have seen. They are very fine and small and fuzzy yet fluffy. It smells like sweet grass or even a little sweet basil-esque. The taste is really good, tho! It’s a more milky-tasting green than I have encountered in quite some time. I like this…I must say…I like this difference in this tea! It’s a nice sweet yet creamy or milkier type green. Nice finish. I would drink this again, most likely purchase if found at a good price, and would recommend to other green tea lovers!

This tea gets better each time I try it. It’s so delicate. It’s grassy, but in the lightest most pleasant way possible. I do get a slightly sweet hay flavour and scent from it, which takes me back to summers hanging out at the stables.

Also makes me want to experiment with more Chinese greens. I think this is the only one I have.

I’m feeling rather downtrodden and have to endure another two hours at a very quiet office.

Libre green in a Libre to the rescue? Perhaps! This is helping me feel less like I forgot to wake up today. It’s nice and sweet and mildly grassy. I think I’ll increase my rating because I am enjoying it even more this time.

I was sent this tea as a prize along with a new Libre mug so I’m having a good time trying both out.

The packets are cool. It’s a nice format; the package comes with 15 little foil packets of 3 grams each which will be convenient to take to work, etc. However, that comes out to only 45g of tea for $18. So, while these are convenient and pretty I don’t think I would find it worth buying for that price.

The dry leaves smell kind of like fresh-cut grass to me, but I’m thinking that might be what I get from fresh, straight green tea. The infusion after two minutes is a satisfying golden colour.

My first few sips, I’m not getting a lot of flavour but I just ate a piece of dark chocolate which is probably interfering. I think I’ll also steep it longer next time. As I go on, I get more of a feel for it. It’s a very tasty, if very light, green tea. This will be nice to have on hand when I want something simpler than my array of flavoured teas.